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by Rob Hill17/09/2025
Built in Australia, perfected in Sri Lanka: how we engineer mirror-image right hand drive vehicles for the world
by Rob Hill17/09/2025By Rob Hill, Global CEO, Autogroup International
Australians know us for American pickups, Muscle Cars and Luxury SUVs that feel factory-authentic in right hand drive. Fewer know the story behind that finish.
We started in Melbourne in 1993, and many will remember us as American Vehicle Sales (AVS). In 2003 we expanded into a purpose-built engineering and manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka. That decision, taken more than two decades ago, is why we can deliver an OEM-grade, mirror-image outcome at a scale and consistency that is exceptionally hard to achieve inside Australia alone. Today we design and manufacture right hand drive solutions across a very broad range of American vehicles, including full-size pickups, SUVs, muscle cars and EVs, with many builds headed to countries beyond Australia including our private jet style ‘CEO’ vehicles and our armoured vehicles. That global mix increases complexity, and it also raises the bar. Our customers rightly expect a better than OEM finish.
See our engineering process, tooling and validation in detail.
What Australians don’t see (but should)
Our Sri Lankan operation is not a small workshop. It is a world-class automotive engineering and manufacturing facility built expressly to re-engineer left hand drive American vehicles into mirror-image right hand drive, safely, repeatably, and in full compliance with Australia’s ADR regulations but also SANS in South Africa the UK DVLA homologation rules for the United Kingdom, and more.
Under one roof we run Design & Development, Production Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Engineering Compliance. Designs are validated with 3D scanning, 3D-printed prototypes (FDM and resin), finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). We re-architect HVAC with modular, right hand drive-compatible ducting so airflow, demist performance and cabin noise land where they should.
On the production side, we create custom jigs, templates and moulds for repeatability. Each programme includes visual, step-by-step procedures, defined torque specifications, non-destructive testing (NDT) records, and controlled part numbering with vehicle-specific picking lists. Technicians use digital work instructions at the workstation. Critical fasteners are set with calibrated torque wrenches and values are recorded for traceability. Quality Control (QC) verifies each installation against drawings, and Quality Assurance (QA) audits process and documentation.
Before any vehicle leaves the line it completes a 1625 point pre-delivery quality control inspection, a full diagnostic scan, a real-world road test covering steering, brakes, HVAC and special systems, and final compliance verification. Only then is it signed off.
This is how we achieve a better than OEM fit, finish and feel, not through shortcuts, but through systems.
Two decades in Sri Lanka. One global team.
We chose Sri Lanka in 2003 because it allowed us to build a large, multi-disciplinary engineering organisation that could design, validate and manufacture right hand drive systems at scale. Today our people are in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka and Australia, operating as one integrated team. Project Management bridges disciplines with clear milestones and KPIs so builds land on time, to specification and in compliance with Australian Design Rules.
It surprises many first-time visitors when they discover our engineering cohort alone is larger than the total workforce at many conversion shops, and that is before you count our technicians, QA/QC, plastics, polyurethane casting and compliance specialists. And then you go beyond to our Human Resources, Procurement, OH&S, Finance, Digital Marketing and all other corporate functions. The breadth of vehicle programmes we run, including models not delivered to Australia, is a key reason we can deliver consistency at scale while still achieving the handmade, bespoke finish owners love.
Our Sri Lankan facility has also become a destination in its own right. Clients and partners fly in from around the world to walk the production bays, meet the engineers who will sign off their vehicles, and see first-hand why we built it this way. It is the kind of operation you would expect from the world’s best performance houses, think Brabus, Fox Factory or Hennessey Performance, where precision manufacturing and craftsmanship live side by side.
From first unit to full production: identical, every time
Prototype with the builders. For each new model, engineers co-develop the first vehicle with senior workshop technicians. Fitment, access and assembly flow are validated in real time, jigs are created for repeatability, electrical systems are mapped and fault-tested, and every change is checked against ADR/ECE/FMVSS. That first unit becomes the gold standard. Many people are simply unaware that our prototype vehicles require between 8,000 to 10,000 engineering hours to complete!
Build a complete production system. We do not drop a manual and walk away. We don’t outsource the manufacture of our parts to China! We deliver technician-tested procedures, custom fixtures, torque and NDT specifications, unique part numbers with picking lists, hands-on training, and troubleshooting guides. Knowledge transfer is the point.
Execute with precision. Parts are kitted and verified. Custom fixtures ensure accuracy. Quality checkpoints and traceability are built in. QC verifies installation and torque, and QA audits the process, documentation and records.
Validate and comply. Pre-delivery inspection, diagnostics, road test and compliance documentation are completed before sign-off. Supporting systems for Part Inspection, Tool Calibration, and Compliance Management ensure the measurement systems, materials and records are right every time.
Improve the next one. Every idea runs through Engineering Change Control. Non-conformances trigger root-cause analysis and corrective and preventive actions. Customer and service feedback is traced back to design, training or material choices and fed into subsequent builds.
Electrical integrity, inside and out
Re-engineering a left hand drive vehicle to right hand drive is not complete until the electrical architecture is mirrored properly. We modify and reroute wiring looms, sensors and modules, recalibrate steering electronics, re-engineer lighting to meet Australian requirements, program ECUs and run full-vehicle scans. Our electrical team also adapts multimedia and supports electric vehicle programmes where required.
Materials, plastics and polyurethane that look and feel factory
A mirror-image dashboard should look, fit and age like the original. Our combination of polyurethane casting, fiberglass-reinforced composite and plastics capability produces lightweight, durable parts with OEM-level properties. We design and refine moulds, apply advanced casting where appropriate, and run strict inspection for accuracy, finish and durability.
ISO, Bureau Veritas and Australian confidence
We operate a long-standing ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System, certified by Bureau Veritas (Certificate IND.24.1088/QM/U). The scope covers the design and implementation of modifications to left hand drive vehicles for compliance with Australian standards in right hand drive. In practice, that means external audits, documented processes and a culture obsessed with traceability and repeatability.
Bigger than people expect. Closer than you think.
- Founded in Australia in 1993, expanded into Sri Lanka in 2003
- 5,000+ vehicles engineered and delivered across 40+ right hand drive markets
- Teams in Australia, Sri Lanka, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom
- Engineering-led production with integrated QA/QC and compliance
- Australian workshop in Pakenham services Autogroup vehicles and all right hand drive converted American vehicles, giving us an immediate real-world feedback loop into engineering
Straight answers Australians ask most
Is a conversion like this legal in Australia?
Yes. Our vehicles are engineered for Australian rules and supplied with the documentation to demonstrate Australian Design Rules compliance and alignment to the Road Vehicle Standards framework. We have been converting our Australian vehicle in Sri Lanka for over two decades with thousands and thousands on the roads across Australia
How long does a conversion take?
Timelines vary by model, options and validation requirements with higher volume vehicles ranging from 21-42 days. We confirm your timeframe at order, and we keep to it by running engineered procedures and measurable checkpoints. Quality takes time plus we do always seem to be busy!
Who looks after me in Australia?
Our Melbourne-based team services what we build and supports partner service centres nationwide. Because we also service all right hand drive converted American vehicles, we continuously feed Australian-specific insights back into engineering.
Why does the finish feel better than factory?
Because we re-engineer to mirror image, from the steering system and HVAC to wiring looms and switchgear, and we build to a production system that measures and verifies the details you cannot see as well as the ones you can. We have the the sheer size of our team and there extensive experience to ensure our vehicles always have the feel of handcrafted refinement.
An invitation
If you want a right hand drive American vehicle for Australian life, including touring, towing, mining, executive transport or simply the joy of owning something special, come and see how we build them. Explore our facility, see what special projects we are working on and see things that we don’t share on social media. Put the work on a hoist. Talk to the engineers. Decide with your own eyes.
We began in Australia in 1993. We expanded to Sri Lanka in 2003. We have grown into a global engineering, manufacturing and R&D company that still signs off every vehicle with the pride of a family business. That combination of scale with craft is our advantage, and it is why your vehicle feels the way it does when you turn the key.
Rob
